. "And it leads through here." He pointed to a gap between two
fluted columns, made by centuries of dripping water that had deposited
countless grains of limestone.

Zircon immediately walked to the gap and peered through. "Come on," he
said. "There's another cave beyond."

The next cave was larger, and nowhere in it was there evidence that man
had occupied it. Rick looked around him, awed by the bizarre beauty of
the place. From ceiling and floor limestone icicles strained toward each
other. They were the stalactites and stalagmites Zircon had mentioned,
formed over the centuries by slow drops of water, each of which left its
tiny trace of limestone to help build up the formation. On one wall of
the cave the water deposits had carved a waterfall, so perfect that it
might have been frozen into white rock only moments before. And from
every grain of stone their flashlight beams twinkled and reflected until
it seemed the walls were crusted with jewels.

"More wax," Chahda called. He had found it near an irregular low opening
in the cave wall, a tiny drop left by someone carrying a tallow candle.

Zircon went through the opening an inch at a time, on hands and knees.
The others followed, to find themselves in a cave almost identical to
the one they had left, except for the stone waterfall. This cave, too,
had walls broken in a number of places.

Rick and Zircon flashed their lights around, seeking the next step. Then
Rick caught a quick glimpse of something red that moved! Quick as a
flash he shifted his hand on the stock of his rifle, pointed it like a
pistol, and fired. The red object vanished!

The thunderous echo of the shot reverberating through the cave drowned
out his yell. He sprang through the entrance where he had seen the flash
of red and found himself in still another cave. Scotty was right behind
him.

"What is it?" Scotty demanded.

"I think it was a man," Rick said quickly. "He was wearing something
red. Come on, he can't be very far from here."

"Which way?"

There was no way of telling which way the man had gone. There were a
half dozen openings in the cave walls. Rick pointed at the two biggest.
"You take that one and I'll take this." Rifle ready and flashlight held
in front of him, he ran through the break in the wall he had indicated.
Scotty hurried to the other.

If only they could get their hands on even one man, Rick thought, they
might force him to serve as their guide! He passed throug